Tokyo - Day 1 - October 31

Early in the morning of October 31, braving the darkness and the morning chill, Jessica and Chris set out from Nanbu-cho with their heavy luggage burdens toward Yonago station. Boarding a 5:30 train to Okayama, they slept fitfully in their seats as the sun began to brighten the world. In Okayama, they transferred to the Shinkansen train bound for Tokyo. And finally, at 11:30 in the morning, they arrived...and so begins their tale of triumph and the human spirit.


So once we had arrived at Tokyo station, we wandered around and I proceeded to get us terrifically lost. Our destination was the Imperial Palace, but it took us about an hour to find the location, only a kilometer or so away from the station. But the palace was awesome...if only we could enter. We wanted to go to the East Garden, but it was closed to the public (closed on Mondays and Fridays, of course!) so we only walked around. There were copious cool things to look at though, and nice pictures to take.

After that, we boarded a few trains bound for Asakusa, the district where our hotel was located. From there, our backs and legs aching under the weight of our overpacked duffels and backpacks, we took the long, long (10 minute) trudge to the hostel. The staff was friendly and we checked in with no problem. However they didn't provide towels there so we would end up having to purchase one at a convenience store.

This is the famous "flaming poo" Asahi beer building
in Asakusa, a short 3 minute walk from our lodgings.

From there, I hopped on a computer to see if I could resolve a 'I forgot my passport, can I still get on Yokosuka naval base?' problem. Problem resolved, we headed out for Yokosuka to stand in line for like 3 hours to get onto base and attend a REALLY FUN Halloween party with my old college friend.

There was carving of pumpkins, and wearing of super lame costumes, and fun was had by all. Also, we shouldn't have purchased that first night at the hotel. But since it was so cheap, it wasn't a huge loss.

See also: Day 2, Day 3, Day 4